


They Call It Puppy Love

by thelaziesthufflepuff



Series: Pompom's Adventures (ft Soonwoo) [2]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: M/M, and of course the dog, features cameos from other members
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 14:14:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13296597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thelaziesthufflepuff/pseuds/thelaziesthufflepuff
Summary: 172. Wonwoo is afraid of dogs, but why does the volunteer at the shelter across from the cafe he’s working at have to be so adorable?What Wonwoo actually wants to say: i think i can learn to love dogs because of youWhat Wonwoo actually says: you smell like dog shit





	They Call It Puppy Love

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally done oh god. To whoever prompted this, I'm sorry it's late but I hope you enjoy this! I could have written a longer version without missing some scenes but it's already late.
> 
> [edit]and the full fic had more emoji but i have no idea how to work the html so i deleted them welp  
> PLEASE ENJOY THIS FULL 8K FIC BECAUSE MY FIRST UPLOAD WAS ONLY 500 WORDS THANKS TO SAID EMOJI

 

“Why do you do this to me.” Wonwoo asks, not expecting an answer. A pair of intelligent eyes stare inquisitively back at him, before deeming him less important than the curtain. The curtain that seemed to be cruelly mangled, teeth marks ruining the soft flower pattern Wonwoo purposely chose because it was the nicest pattern the store had which was actually within his budget. A piece of it was missing. He stares and sighs.

 

“Pompom.” His dog perks up, distracted by his voice. She barks at him once, before deciding to chew through more curtain. “Pompom. Stop that.” He gets duly ignored, most likely because he was empty-handed, no leash and no treats, so Wonwoo clearly paled in comparison to cheap polyester- and wait- can dogs even chew polyester? What if she accidentally eats it? Wonwoo panics and frantically pulls the curtains up, and makes a mental note to get them cleaned as Pompom has christened them with her spit. Judging by the teeth marks, perhaps replacing them would be the better option. But if Pompom is going to continue chewing through curtains, there would be no point in replacing them, Wonwoo thinks. Unless Pompom decides to move on to the next most attractive thing to chew, that happened to be anything but a licensed chew toy. Pompom whines, trying to catch the curtains by standing on her hind legs, but they fail to support her weight and she stumbles and falls. She rolls over and pants, shooting sad eyes in Wonwoo’s direction. Wonwoo almost gives in, but he remembers how expensive the previous vet visit was when Pompom decided Wonwoo’s watch was better off in her stomach and decides to be cruel to be kind. 

 

“ _ No. _ Pompom. No. That’s bad. Biting curtains is  _ wrong. _ ” He says firmly. Pompom sits primly on the floor and makes another whining noise, large puppy eyes beseechingly staring at Wonwoo’s own. “No biting the curtain.” 

 

Pompom rests her face on her front paws as she slowly pads forward, flopping on Wonwoo’s bare feet. She gives another long whine. Wonwoo blames Soonyoung for teaching her how to beg.

 

“Don’t try that on me! It won’t work.” Wonwoo says, more to convince himself than anything else. He remembers the vet bill. The terror when Pompom howled in pain when he touched her stomach by accident. “I’m doing this for your own good.” 

 

Pompom clearly does not understand Wonwoo’s good intentions. She proceeds to lick his toes. Her tongue is wet and slimy between his toes, but Wonwoo is too used to it to be grossed out. “Stop that too.” Wonwoo says, without much heat. He washes his feet often; Pompom isn’t going to get food poisoning from licking his toes. His partner’s toes though, are another story altogether. He decides to take a photo of their shredded curtain to send to Soonyoung.

 

To Soonie 

Look at what your baby did. 

11.28am

  
  


Less than a minute later, he gets a reply. 

  
  


To Nonu-goon 

Why is she MY BABY whenever she does something wrong?

11.28am

  
  


To Soonie 

Because YOU keep spoiling her!!!

11.29am

  
  


To Nonu-goon 

Says the one who let her sit at OUR KITCHEN TABLE!!! >.<

11.29am

  
  


To Soonie 

She looked SO SAD. are you a monster?!? Also YOU were the one that taught her how to beg!!!

11.29am

 

To Nonu-goon 

Nonu you are a sucker!! NOT MY FAULT YOU CANT HANDLE BEGGING!!! From me or her

11.30am

 

Wonwoo chokes and hastily types out a reply. Pompom meanwhile, has taken advantage of Wonwoo’s distraction to chew another segment of the curtain. Wonwoo hurriedly puts down his phone and pulls up the offending curtain segment. Pompom shoots him a betrayed look and proceeds to stare sadly at the curtain hems dangling out of reach, making occasional mournful noises. Wonwoo focuses on his phone, pretending be unmoved. He must not show any signs of weakness in front of Pompom.

  
  


To Soonie 

JUST BUY NEW CURTAINS. She wants to chew everything. 

11.30am

 

To Nonu-goon 

OKAY =D

11.30am

 

Wonwoo smiles. Pompom barks and pees on the carpet. Wonwoo stops smiling. 

 

-

 

If someone told Wonwoo he would be looking after a limping dog who had a tendency to stumble after every few metres, who was made out of more fur than meat, and whose current hobby was to chew everything vaguely new in sight, he would have laughed. He believed for years that dogs were terrifying creatures masquerading as beacons of love and fluff, and to make matters worse, their owners wholeheartedly believed in that illusion, choosing to let their little monsters off the leash every time Wonwoo was in the vicinity, where they, upon sensing Wonwoo’s general distrust and fear, proceeded to follow him with the tenacity of a homing missile. 

 

“They just want to make friends with you!” His elementary school teacher used to cheerfully say. Wonwoo thought if those dogs were sincere about becoming his friends, they should have left him alone at a respectable distance and waited for him to go them instead. But no, those dogs were out for his blood, relentlessly yapping at his heels as Wonwoo ran away from them, the laughter of his classmates loud in the air. Yes. Friendship at its finest. 

 

Pompom is different though. Pompom is the exception to many things, because she is the kindest and sweetest dog. She is adorable and fluffy and understands the deepest desires in Wonwoo’s heart. In fact, she even beats out Temari for the title of Best Girl in Wonwoo’s heart. 2D anime girls could never compare to Pompom. To prove Wonwoo’s point, Pompom looks appropriately apologetic at the mess she made on the carpet before clumsily running to where Soonyoung keeps the (rarely used) wet wipes, barking to get Wonwoo’s attention. Wet wipes were not supposed to be used to clean pee off the carpet, but Wonwoo appreciates Pompom’s efforts to make things right. He scratches behind her ears and is rewarded with her wagging tail and wriggly butt. 

 

“You did your best Pompom.” Wonwoo tells her. “It’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone pees on the carpet at least once in their life.” 

 

Pompom shoots Wonwoo a look of disbelief and barks in surprise. 

 

“Yes. Even I peed on the carpet once.” When he was a scrawny three year old. His mother never lets him forget it; she likes to recount over family dinners about how Wonwoo peed on the carpet because he didn’t trust the potty when he was younger. Wonwoo back then didn’t understand why he couldn’t pee on the carpet seeing that it absorbed everything like a diaper. He sighs and pets Pompom’s head. “Just don’t tell Soonyoung I told you that ok?” 

 

Pompom barks in agreement. Wonwoo beams with pride. He has such a great dog, and he has Soonyoung to thank for that. If he had not met Soonyoung, he would not have met Pompom, and that would have been a tragedy, he thinks as he starts to clean up the mess with paper towels while Pompom curiously watches on, excitedly barking whenever Wonwoo rips another paper towel to soak up the urine. 

“How did you even contain so much pee?” Wonwoo exclaims as he continues to soak up the stain. “Have you been drinking water from the toilet bowl again?” Pompom tries to lick his fingers, but Wonwoo shoos her away. “No, my fingers are dirty with your urine, you’ll get sick.”

 

Pompom barks and runs to the door, just before Wonwoo hears the click of the lock as it opens to reveal Soonyoung. Pompom barks even louder than before.

 

“Hello my baby!” Soonyoung immediately bends down to pet her, deliberately fluffing the hair Wonwoo painstakingly brushed the day before. Pompom, sadly, does not understand the waste of effort on Wonwoo’s part. “Who is the best dog? You are the best dog!” Soonyoung cheers as he crouches to better cuddle Pompom. She wriggles happily in Soonyoung’s arms as Soonyoung scratches her belly. 

 

“Hello to you too.” Wonwoo says dryly, one hand still holding a paper towel soaked in urine. “Did you get the curtains?” 

 

Soonyoung sheepishly laughs from his spot on the floor. There are no curtains in his hands or anywhere on his person. He is lucky he’s cute. 

 

“I thought we could go pick a new one together! Like we did before.” Soonyoung notices the paper towel. “Did Pompom pee on the carpet again?” 

 

Pompom shakes her head and toddles to her own bedding. 

 

“She did, didn’t she?” Soonyoung asks, already getting up to help Wonwoo clean up.

 

“Of course it’s her.” Wonwoo replies. “It can’t have been me.” 

 

“Are you sure about that?” Soonyoung cheekily asks. “You did say that you were too lazy to use the toilet.” 

 

Wonwoo, being a mature adult, wipes his smelly fingers on Soonyoung’s shirt, much to Soonyoung’s disgust and despair. Soonyoung pulls a face.

 

“Wonwoo-ah, I know you want to get me out of my clothes, but must you do this?” Soonyoung mock sighs as he purposely leans forward, arms wrapped around Wonwoo’s waist, their chests nearly touching. Wonwoo tries to twist away from Soonyoung’s hold; he would have been more enthused about Soonyoung’s display of affection if he couldn’t see the faint imprint his own pee-stained fingers made on Soonyoung’s shirt.   

 

“No you are not getting away!” Soonyoung cackles as he pulls Wonwoo even closer. The pee-stain is dangerously close to Wonwoo’s own shirt. Wonwoo lets out an unmanly shriek as Soonyoung closes the distance between them, firmly pressing that offensive stain on Wonwoo’s shirt. 

 

“Sharing is caring.” Soonyoung says with false solemnity. Wonwoo pinches the soft skin of his belly and delights in the way Soonyoung squeals and presses even closer to him for support. His shirt was already dirty, Wonwoo thinks, he might as well mess it up even further. They can do laundry together later. 

 

“Yes. That’s why I shared Pompom’s urine with you.” Wonwoo agrees, in that very same tone. “Pompom worked really hard to create it!” 

 

“But you should have kept it to yourself, my darling husband. Seeing that you love Pompom even more than I do!” Soonyoung argues as he idly rubs Wonwoo’s back muscles. Wonwoo lets out a sigh as Soonyoung gently works on a tense muscle. He should have just sat down on the carpet to clean the stain instead of bending over on his knees. “Nonu-ah are you okay?” 

 

“Your baby peed on the carpet.” Wonwoo sighs again, resting his chin on Soonyoung’s shoulder. “Why does she keep doing that?” 

 

“Because you don’t scold her for doing it.” Wonwoo doesn’t need to look at Soonyoung’s face to visualise the smile he has, whenever he learns that Wonwoo interacted positively with Pompom without him. Years later, Soonyoung still has that same look on his face, even when Wonwoo complains about Pompom’s occasional destructive behaviour. “And she’s our baby. You’re so soft for her; no wonder she doesn’t learn.”  

 

“But I’m sure she learnt from her mistake.” Wonwoo argues. “She did look very sad and tried to give me wet tissues.” He sulks, chin still on Soonyoung’s shoulder. “I don’t know why she doesn’t remember it’s bad to do it.”  

 

“Nonu-ah, you are so cute.” Soonyoung says while stroking the length of his back. He idly kisses the shell of Wonwoo’s ear. “The cutest.”

 

Wonwoo tucks his face closer to Soonyoung’s neck to  hide the blush crawling up his cheeks; it was ridiculous, to feel embarrassed whenever Soonyoung says things like that without warning, but Wonwoo never claimed to be perfect anyway. 

 

“That’s Pompom.” Wonwoo argues just for the sake of arguing. 

 

Soonyoung pauses and nods. “That’s right. Pompom would never smear pee all over my shirt.”

 

Wonwoo smirks. “That’s because she already peed in your shoes.”

 

Soonyoung’s pained face returns. “Don’t remind me; my toes can still remember it,” he shudders. “It was disgusting.”

 

“Love is disgusting.” Wonwoo says. He, who never bothered with household chores in the past, is now voluntarily cleaning pee in the strangest of places because of love. He, who would never been seen alive with a dog, is now living with one because of love.

 

Love is disgusting. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

-

A few years ago, Wonwoo fell in love against his will. 

 

It starts with a new job. 

 

There were things Wonwoo expected when he got the job as a barista for a small cafe. Asshole customers who kept changing their orders, getting saddled with morning shifts as some form of hazing, nosy coworkers who either gossiped too much or tried to hit on him. 

 

What he doesn’t expect is his new crush on the dog shelter volunteer who drops by nearly every day for his healthy blueberry milkshake. He took on this job as a barista simply because they were hiring and he wanted the staff discount on their parfaits. He didn’t expect that the cafe, being next to a dog shelter, would cause the majority of their customers who came in for food and drink to smell like wet dog, dirty dog, and somehow, sad dog. He scrunches his nose everytime one of them enters to order, whether it’s overly sweaty Seungcheol who always leaves pamphlets on dog care on the counter, Junhui who seems too cheerful at 7.00am and keeps showing him blurry pictures of their dogs whenever he comes in for lunch, or too-tall Mingyu who keeps knocking over their menus whenever he as much as moves an arm, much to Wonwoo’s annoyance. But all of them pale in comparison to a certain Kwon Soonyoung, who happens to be the reason that Wonwoo wakes up in the morning and drags his sorry ass to work at the asscrack of dawn.   

 

“Looking good Jun-hyung!” Vernon yells and waves cheerfully at Jun, who is busy walking three pit bulls on his own outside their cafe and thus cannot hear Vernon’s words. That doesn’t stop him from waving back and pointing them out to the dogs. All three dogs look less than impressed. Wonwoo can relate. 

 

His coworkers however, all coo at the three massive pit bulls Jun manages to lead with his arms. Wonwoo would worry about their customers complaining about poor service, but even the customers are struck dumb by the sight of Wen Junhui, whose handsome face, broad back and thick arms make him look like he belongs on the cover of a tawdry romance novel or some cheap fireman pin-up calendar, but is instead, only separated from them by a thin glass panel and three huge dogs who look like they would rip off the heads of anyone who approached him. Jihoon, their regular who could be considered Wonwoo’s casual acquaintance, keeps his eyes firmly on his computer screen, only looking up to give Jun a quick nod. Jun cheerfully waves. Jihoon doesn’t seem enthused about Jun, but Wonwoo has once caught him subtly eyeing the muscles on Jun’s back when Jun was drenched in sweat, and now Jihoon always sits by the window whenever it’s Jun’s turn to walk the dogs. 

 

It is comforting to know, no matter how sad his ill-found crush on Kwon Soonyoung is, he will never sink to Jihoon’s levels of pining. He keeps pretending to write music while checking out Jun’s reflection. Wonwoo rolls his eyes. 

 

He looks behind Jun to see Soonyoung walking what must be an entire battalion of tiny furballs. The dogs refuse to listen to Soonyoung and deliberately snake around his ankles, causing their leashes to tangle. Soonyoung nearly trips over them and falls. Instead of feeling irritated (like Wonwoo would definitely have been), Soonyoung merely laughs and crouches down to untangle them, letting Jun hold the rest of the leashes. It shouldn’t be as endearing as it is. But it is. The more rational part of Wonwoo can’t even believe he likes Soonyoung, especially when he’s surrounded by people like Jun and Vernon and Mingyu, especially when Soonyoung loves dogs so much he’s willing to flip Wonwoo the middle finger for their sakes, but he does. He does like Soonyoung. He likes him a lot. 

 

Soonyoung gets up and takes the rest of the leashes from Jun. Jun says something Wonwoo can’t make out as he points to the cafe. Soonyoung turns and looks, catching Wonwoo’s eyes. He smiles, his eyes becoming tiny crescents, the hint of teeth slipping out from full lips. Wonwoo wants to cup those soft cheeks in his hands and litter kisses all over them, he wants to hold the hand that’s holding a multitude of different coloured dog leashes and swing it back and forth, he wants to tuck a hand into the back pocket of Soonyoung’s jeans and gently squeeze Soonyoung’s plump ass cheeks. 

 

He does none of those things. Instead, his cheeks burn as he tries his best to wave nonchalantly at Soonyoung, making sure Soonyoung doesn’t detect his creepy fondness and extreme thirst. They haven’t spoken to each other outside their roles as (a sometimes rude) service staff and (occasionally rude) customer, and all of the words Wonwoo has spoken to Soonyoung sadly included stuttering ‘can I take your order’ the first time he saw Soonyoung in front of the counter, as well as ‘here’s your change; don’t forget your receipt’. Sometimes Wonwoo even included unsolicited opinions about his looks ‘your hair looks like cotton candy’ because Wonwoo clearly suffered from emotional constipation and the inability to converse normally with someone he really liked, who obviously really adored all kinds of barking beings Wonwoo himself did not. 

 

“This is so sad.” Seungkwan says. He cheerfully pats Wonwoo on his shoulder. Wonwoo thinks Seungkwan has too much free time; he seems to spend more time chatting with customers and gossipping with coworkers than doing his actual job. “You are so sad.” 

 

“No I’m not.” Wonwoo denies. Seungkwan shoots him a pitying look and shakes his head.

 

“Hyung. The only reason why Soonyoung-hyung hasn’t noticed you like him is because he’s more focused on his dogs.”

 

“Of course he is.” Wonwoo mutters, thankful yet irritated. No wonder Jihoon always sat right by the window whenever Jun walked past. Any further and Jun would probably not notice him as well. What a pity, Soonyoung won’t be able to see his face before he continues on his way. Wonwoo knows his strengths, and one of it is definitely his looks. Then he remembers that he is technically  _ not _ in love with Soonyoung so it wouldn’t matter if Soonyoung sees his face and whatever expression he makes anyway. “I don’t care.” 

 

“...Of course you don’t.” Seungkwan sighs and wipes the counter. “Why do I even bother. You and Jihoon-hyung are so dumb it almost hurts.”

-

While Wonwoo’s heart has rose-tinted glasses on, Wonwoo’s brain is busy rationalizing his crush on Soonyoung while hoping it dies a horrible death because Wonwoo’s body honestly cannot take much more of this. His nose is begging for a quick death. 

 

Soonyoung is disgusting. Wonwoo knows this, yet he still can’t understand how he could have possibly fallen for him out of everyone he has met so far. Even their newest hire, Vernon, would have made a stronger case for a crush, for he had a face so handsome pregnant customers have actually asked to take photos of just so they could stare at it longer, in the faint hope that their children would grow up to be as good-looking as he was. But no. His current crush (love? Wonwoo hopes not, but his heart keeps fluttering whenever he’s in the same vicinity as Soonyoung and it’s becoming really inconvenient) is right in front of him.   

 

“Gross.” Wonwoo says, face scrunched in disgust as he hands Soonyoung a serviette, idly staring at the way Soonyoung hastily wipes himself clean. “Stop dripping sweat all over the floor.”     

 

“Sorry that my body doesn’t want me to overheat and die.” Soonyoung apologizes mockingly. He goes as far as to bow before deliberately flinging the dirtied serviette in Wonwoo’s direction. Wonwoo wishes he was on the other side; the view would have been a lot more pleasant. Wonwoo hates him so much, him and his soft cheeks and thick thighs and sunny smile. 

 

“You smell really terrible.” Wonwoo can’t help but add, even as his brain internally screams at him to  _ shut the fuck up, i thought you wanted him to like you, do you want to live in perpetual singledom with only your hand for a good time, why are you doing this to yourself! _ “Ever considered using deodorant?” Wonwoo continues, because he’s either a masochist that loves jeopardising his own chances at happiness or someone who just simply has no brain-to-mouth filter when it comes to Soonyoung. Wonwoo doesn’t know what’s wrong with himself; why does he feel the urge to open his big mouth and insult Soonyoung’s natural bodily functions? It’s like making fun of Soonyoung for coming too early- no, not going there. Wonwoo refuses to think of Kwon Soonyoung, dog shelter volunteer and willing slave of furry hellspawns, in this way. 

 

Even if he sometimes wears really tight jeans that stretch around his thighs. Even then. Jeon Wonwoo is an intelligent modern man who refuses to succumb to such crass… assets. Yes. Assets. 

 

Soonyoung flips him the finger and leaves. Wonwoo sarcastically waves goodbye, making sure to smile. Good customer service is important. 

 

“Hyung, pigtail-pulling only works in kindergarten.” Seungkwan, a fellow barista, says. “It’s just sad for a 24 year old to do it.” 

 

“Who is pulling pigtails?” Vernon asks. Wonwoo takes a moment of silence as he stares at Vernon’s side profile. Why didn’t he get a crush on Vernon instead? Vernon wouldn’t have flipped him off. (Vernon wouldn’t have paid him any attention either, with the way his eyes smiled at Seungkwan, but Wonwoo could have hope.)

 

“This handsome hyung here.” Seungkwan points at Wonwoo. Wonwoo rolls his eyes. “He keeps being mean to Soonyoung-hyung just so Soonyoung-hyung will pay attention to him.”

 

Wonwoo would like to argue otherwise, but then he remembered once Soonyoung dropped by the cafe after a hot day at work, shovelling dog shit. If he wanted to make any positive headway on this inconvenient crush, he would have offered him a huge cold drink, wiped off his sweat with those free serviettes and fed him leftover cookies. Instead, Wonwoo had pinched his nose and pretended to gag.  

 

“You smell like dog shit” Wonwoo stated. The other, more rational, yet more emotionally constipated part of his brain argues that the statement is technically true, but in the end, it does not do Wonwoo any good when it escapes his mouth.  

 

Soonyoung used to casually sniff himself and sheepishly shrug at Wonwoo, but weeks of Wonwoo repeating similar facts (with several additions depending on whether Soonyoung has decided to roll in mud with his dogs or not) has led to Soonyoung cheerfully responding with a middle finger in Wonwoo’s direction, sometimes deliberately moving closer to Wonwoo so that Wonwoo has to stop breathing if he doesn’t want to choke on Soonyoung’s body odour. Soonyoung is the  _ worst _ . The most disgusting. Wonwoo doesn’t like him anymore. 

 

(Lies: after Wonwoo’s terrible attempt at polite conversation Soonyoung has constantly doused himself in enough Axe deodorant to suffocate everyone in the vicinity whenever he enters the store. Jihoon regularly gives Wonwoo death glares whenever Soonyoung enters, probably because Jihoon hates the smell of Axe. He never glares at Wonwoo when Jun enters, somehow smelling like oranges. Wonwoo does regret saying it, but it would be  _ weird  _ to apologize after weeks have passed. He settles for upsizing Soonyoung’s drinks for free out of his own pocket. However, he’s not sure Soonyoung even noticed as Soonyoung chugs back the iced tea, Adam’s apple bobbing with every swallow as sweat beads down the length of his throat and collects in the hollows of his collarbones, staining his T-shirt. It’s irritating. 

 

Bigger lie: Wonwoo still likes Soonyoung, even when doused in enough deodorant to give Wonwoo war flashbacks of his high school gym class. Wonwoo still likes Soonyoung, even before he used deodorant, even when he was a sweaty smelly mess. 

 

Biggest lie: He doesn’t only  _ like _ Soonyoung. Love is truly disgusting.)

 

\- 

 

Of course, Wonwoo doesn’t open his mouth and shoot himself in the foot  _ all the fucking time.  _ There are other happier moments where Wonwoo doesn’t want to kick himself in the ass for opening his mouth and starting conversation. Early mornings before the sun rises, Soonyoung sleepily shuffles into the cafe, yawning as he murmurs his usual. Wonwoo will manage to greet him good morning, and Soonyoung will smile a soft sleepy smile more suited for a lover to see while Wonwoo forgets to breathe as his heart races. He will reply with a small nod and Soonyoung will return a bigger smile. He will then give Soonyoung the biggest muffin of the day because he thinks Soonyoung deserves to have more filling food, to have more sweetness in his life. Soonyoung thanks him and leaves. Wonwoo’s heart rate will slowly drop to normalcy, relieved that Wonwoo didn’t open his mouth and screw his chances, and upset at Wonwoo not making a move. 

 

Sometimes Soonyoung approaches the counter with his feet dragging reluctantly on the hardwood floor.  Drained, as though someone sapped every bit of love he had out of him and left him an empty husk of a human being. On those days, Wonwoo wishes he was brave enough to ask Soonyoung what went wrong, how could he help, would he like a hug. He never does though, but Wonwoo tells one of his ( _ not lame _ \- no matter what Seungkwan says) jokes, gives him an extra large cookie on the house (from his own pocket, yet Soonyoung must never know), and the small, thankful smile he gets in response is almost worth his cowardly acts of comfort. Almost. 

 

-

The limbo is broken one fine day when Soonyoung storms straight towards the counter and orders his usual, with a brusque tone unlike his usual cheery drawl, not even bothering to look at Wonwoo at all, too busy glaring a hole in their counter.   

 

Wonwoo, in his three months of knowing Soonyoung, has never seen him like this. Seungkwan, shoots Wonwoo a confused look tinged with slight panic. Wonwoo is pretty sure his face echoes Seungkwan’s own.  

 

“Bad day?” He cautiously asks, wiping his hands nervously on his apron, before cursing himself internally. Of course it was a bad day. What kind of stupid question was that? Also, what if Soonyoung didn’t want to talk? Wonwoo wasn’t his friend- he was just a person who worked at a place he frequented often. Who accidentally insulted him once and kept on doing it despite every cell in his body telling him to just stop aggravating Soonyoung for the sake of attracting his attention. Someone who gave him free food as recompense. “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” He hastily adds, accidentally catching Soonyoung’s eyes. 

 

_ But please tell me _ . Wonwoo hopes. If there’s anything he could do to bring the smile back to Soonyoung’s face, he would do it. 

 

“Do people realise a dog is a living thing? Not just something they give kids during Christmas because it looks cute or  _ oh look, it can teach the kids to be responsible- _ ” Soonyoung starts to rant while other customers turn around to see what’s causing the noise. Soonyoung pays them no mind and keeps his eyes on Wonwoo throughout. Wonwoo feels faint, and not just from prolonged eye contact with Soonyoung. There is something about the righteous indignant rage that Soonyoung has for his furry charges that Wonwoo finds admirable. 

 

“You are supposed to teach your own kids responsibility by making them wash their dishes or pack their own bags, not to get them a fucking dog that  _ you know  _ they won’t look after and then of course you have to look after it and now you  _ can’t look after it _ because you were too dumb to think this through and bought a puppy on impulse and then tossed it into the streets for eating breathing shitting and basically being a living thing?!” Soonyoung takes a deep breath after that spectacularly long sentence. Wonwoo would applaud Soonyoung’s breath control, but it would probably not be the right course of action. 

 

“People are assholes.” Wonwoo replies. Case-in-point, himself to Soonyoung whenever he steps into the shop sweaty. At least he isn’t the type to abandon a dog; he’d just prefer to not have one. At all. Having a cat would be nice. “Here’s your drink.”

 

“But I haven’t ordered anything.” Soonyoung says, confused, his anger settling into something tamer now that his rage has got an outlet.

“It’s on Wonwoo-hyung, just like all your other upsized drinks.” Seungkwan chirps from the side. Wonwoo shoots him a panicked glare. Seungkwan remains cheerfully unbothered. 

 

“No it’s not!” Soonyoung splutters, shooting Wonwoo a quick glance like he’s afraid Wonwoo will call the police and report him for not paying for months worth of upsized drinks.  “I paid for my own drinks! You should know- you took my money! And gave me receipts!”

 

“Yeah but Wonwoo-hyung paid for the upsize. For all your drinks.” Seungkwan patiently explains, ignoring Wonwoo’s silent plea for him to shut up. He really should have just stayed at home today, he thinks, as he purposely busies himself with the coffee machine, watching the coffee drip bit by bit into an empty cup, which happened to have a puppy on it. If Wonwoo squints, it almost looks like Soonyoung too. Curse Soonyoung.  Speaking of Soonyoung, the cafe was almost too quiet. Did Soonyoung leave already? Wonwoo cautiously looks up, and is greeted with Soonyoung’s face, merely inches from his own. He jumps back, startled.

 

“What?” Wonwoo asks defensively. “Why are you staring at me? Don’t you have a dog to rehome or something?”

 

A slow smile spreads on Soonyoung’s face and Soonyoung starts to giggle. Wonwoo feels his cheeks heat up. From the corner of his eye, the coffee cup starts to overflow. Wonwoo pays it no mind despite the potential mess, too focused on the softness of Soonyoung’s cheeks. 

 

“Am I interrupting something?” Soonyoung turns around, startled. Wonwoo nearly knocks over the coffee cup with his arm. It’s Jun looking particularly handsome and smug as he proceeds to drape all over Soonyoung like a sweaty tall blanket. “Don’t mind me.” He whistles cheerfully. “Continue staring at each other.”  

 

Soonyoung squishes Jun’s face. “What staring are you talking about?”

 

“Is eye-fucking the correct word then?” Jun asks. Wonwoo has no idea if he’s feigning obtuseness to mess with Soonyoung or just really clueless. Also he was clearly mistaken; eye-lovemaking would be the more accurate term with the way Soonyoung’s eyes gently traced the shadows under his eyes, the dip between his eyebrows and the outlines of Wonwoo’s lips. Wonwoo’s cheeks heat up. Soonyoung looked at him the way Wonwoo himself stared at the newest installment of Pokemon at the game store; like Wonwoo was infinitely precious, something he had been waiting for far too long, yet there was anticipation there, with the way he stared too long at Wonwoo’s parted lips, too anticipatory to be platonic.

 

Or maybe Wonwoo was blowing everything out of proportion, seeing that Soonyoung’s attention has been completely diverted with Jun’s arrival. Wonwoo can only see Soonyoung’s back as Soonyoung turns to Jun.

 

“Why are you here?” Soonyoung demands, playfully pinching Jun’s cheeks. Jun squawks.

 

“To look for you!” Jun has very earnest eyes. Wonwoo doesn’t like them, especially when they are directed at Soonyoung. “Also you stormed out without telling us.” 

 

“Yeah well now you found me.” Soonyoung says. “Did something happen with-” 

 

“Nah, she’s fine!” Jun reassures Soonyoung by rubbing his arms. Wonwoo still has no idea what is going on, but he guesses it’s has something to do with the long rant Soonyoung gave about irresponsible pet ownership. “The vet said she’ll recover, but she will be limping for the rest of her life.”

 

Soonyoung sighs and smooths his hands down his face. “At least she’s alive. Good to know.”

 

“We can pick her up the day after,” Jun says. He then realises that Wonwoo has been ignored for the entire conversation and hastily greets him. Soonyoung finally turns around as well. “Hi Wonwoo! Ever thought of owning a dog?” 

 

“No.” Wonwoo says, pretending not to notice the way Soonyoung’s face falls at the rapid dismissal. “I prefer cats.”

 

“Ah that’s too bad.” Jun says. “We got a lot more rescues than expected, so we’ve been swamped with work. We’re currently looking for responsible fosterers at the moment.”

 

“I think Jihoon would be interested.” Wonwoo says. He’s technically not wrong; he has seen Jihoon eyeing the dog care pamphlets contemplatively, especially after Jun walks past the cafe. “You should ask him yourself though.” 

 

“I will!” Jun cheerfully replies. “Please tell us if you know any more potential fosterers - or if you change your mind. I think Soonyoung would like that a lot.” Jun winks and flees, but not before Soonyoung whacks his arm. Wonwoo watches red crawl up Soonyoung’s face, and wishes he loved dogs enough to take Jun up on his offer.  There was no way Soonyoung would fall in love with someone who was both scared of and disliked dogs. His previous ex-boyfriend definitely didn’t love him after finding out.

 

-

If anyone bothered to ask, Wonwoo could have told anyone the exact moment his past relationship became a past relationship, how easily it plummeted to the point of no return. 

 

“I don’t like dogs.” Wonwoo remembers himself saying over a cup of tea. His then-boyfriend hysterically laughs, before realising that Wonwoo was adamantly serious about not liking canines, then the smile slid of his face faster than Wonwoo confronted with swimming activities. 

 

“Wait you’re serious?” He looked at him, aghast. “Big dogs?”

 

“No. Too big. They drool everywhere. And they can bite.” Wonwoo added this last but very important point. Big dogs bite and they bite hard. His left butt cheek still had visual confirmation of this fact.  

 

“Small dogs?” His then-boyfriend continues to ask, his own drink forgotten.

 

“Too small. They’re noisy. They can also bite.” Wonwoo remembers the teeth on his old neighbour’s chihuahua, and the way it barked continuously whenever Wonwoo walked past their door to get home. No thanks. 

 

“Medium sized dogs?” The boy asks hopefully, as though medium-sized dogs were the exception to all other-sized dogs. Wonwoo almost felt bad for his response.

 

“They’re noisy, they drool everywhere and they also bite.” He replies flatly. Medium sized dogs were basically the average of big and small dogs, thus they contained negative behaviours from both sizes. It was a pity his then-boyfriend didn’t understand it.   

 

“I can’t believe you’re a dog hater!” He bursts out in anger. 

 

“I don’t hate dogs.” Wonwoo tries to clarify. “I just don’t like them! And prefer them to stay a distance from me.”

 

“...”

 

“What?” Wonwoo asks defensively. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” 

 

Then-boyfriend shakes his head sadly. “There are so many things wrong with that. Wonwoo-ah, I don’t think this can work.”

 

Wonwoo chokes. “Are you breaking up with me because I don’t like dogs?”

 

The boy stares at him with pity in his eyes. “Yes.” 

 

And that was how Jeon Wonwoo became a single man. Since that day he had another reason why he doesn’t like dogs. They ruin relationships. It didn’t matter that he was a kind caring boyfriend who loved reading poetry to his partner, the moment he revealed he didn’t like dogs he was clearly the party at fault, nevermind his then-boyfriend never bothered to find out why Wonwoo didn’t like dogs, the fact that Wonwoo didn’t like dogs was enough reason to call off a perfectly amicable relationship. 

 

If Soonyoung knew that about him, he wouldn’t smile that gently at Wonwoo. Wonwoo is sure about that, which is why he is determined to let this burgeoning romantic relationship die, even as his heart screams at him to stop.

 

-

 

Days pass, and Soonyoung’s visits become shorter as his workload increases. Wonwoo tries to tell himself it’s for the best; Soonyoung and him practically resided in different worlds, there is no room for Wonwoo in Soonyoung’s dog loving world. Yet his heart still stings when Soonyoung barely has time to greet him before running off to do whatever shelter volunteers do.

 

“It’s been rough lately.” Soonyoung mentions on one of the rare occasions they manage to talk. “One of our regular fosterers is moving to a different country, and another is moving house so she can no longer foster most of our dogs because of size regulations.” He pauses, as though waiting for Wonwoo to say something. Wonwoo just stares at Soonyoung, cataloging his haggard face. He missed Soonyoung’s chubby cheeks, now his cheeks have slimmed down somewhat, thanks to stress. He decides to give Soonyoung the biggest muffin free-of-charge, watching with perverse satisfaction as Soonyoung stuffs the whole thing in his mouth, reminiscent of a hamster stuffing its cheeks full of sunflower seeds. Wonwoo's mother would be appalled by the lack of table manners, but Wonwoo just finds it endearing. 

 

Love is truly disgusting, Wonwoo muses, as Soonyoung tries to chew and speak at the same time, spewing Wonwoo (and the counter) with crumbs. It's lucky they only have a few customers; Wonwoo doesn't think roughly covering Soonyoung's mouth with a napkin in order to stop him from pelting crumbs everywhere is proper customer service etiquette. Soonyoung's neck gets red and Wonwoo panics; if Soonyoung chokes he has no idea how to save him. He removes his hand.

 

"Are you dying? Blink once if you are."

 

Soonyoung rolls his eyes. Wonwoo clearly worried for nothing.

 

"Eat slowly." Wonwoo says, reminding himself of his own mother. "Were you born in a barn?"

 

Soonyoung retaliates by spewing more crumbs in Wonwoo's directions, only now those crumbs were wet with saliva and thankfully fell on the counter and not on Wonwoo's face. Wonwoo idly thinks that this must be the closest he has come to swapping spit with Soonyoung, and it's sadly nothing like what he's imagined. The heavens above are clearly mocking him. His wet dreams already feature a very realistic Soonyoung, sweaty and panting, with his face red with exertion. He hopes spitting doesn't sneak into his dreams. There is nothing arousing about that.

 

"Wonwoo, do you have some free time?” Soonyoung asks, as Wonwoo cleans the counter yet again, this time with a wet towel. Wonwoo's brain immediately goes into overdrive, segueing into a scenario where Soonyoung confesses that he knew Wonwoo was in love with him all along, and most importantly, Soonyoung returns his feelings and they go on a dogless date that ends with them gazing romantically at each other as the setting sun casts shadows on their faces while violins swell in the backdrop.

 

"Wonwoo? Wonwoo!" Soonyoung waves his hand in front of Wonwoo's face, rudely waking him from his daydream. Wonwoo sighs; it was good while it lasted.

 

"Why?" Wonwoo asks cautiously, not daring to hope.

 

"I need a favour." Soonyoung says. "There is no one else I can ask!"

 

"What favour?" Him bothering to question Soonyoung is proof that Wonwoo isn't that far gone for him yet. He gives himself a mental pat on the back for not caving in immediately like wet tissue.  

 

"I need you to help me look after a puppy!" Soonyoung pleads. "Please Wonwoo, we're really swamped. We just need you to house her for a month."

 

" _ A month _ ?" Wonwoo exclaims. Even a day would be too much for him, let alone thirty days of looking after a dog. He really should have just told Soonyoung about his dislike and borderline fear of dogs before Soonyoung decided to come to him with this request. Funnily enough, he has no idea how Soonyoung thought  _ he  _ was an appropriate person to look after a dog in the first place. "What makes you think I'll be good at it?"

 

"According to Jun, Jihoon said you love dogs!" Soonyoung replies. Wonwoo's eyebrow twitches. Lee Jihoon is a dead man, all Wonwoo did was create an opportunity where he gets to speak with Jun without a glass panel separating them like star crossed lovers, and all he gets is this betrayal of the highest order.

 

Or not. There was no way Jihoon could have known of his true feelings about dogs, seeing that they communicated through eyebrow raises and lame jokes no one else laughed at. Maybe Jihoon thought he was doing Wonwoo a favour, creating a chance for them to talk, for them to bond over a common interest. It's a pity Wonwoo can't appreciate Jihoon's attempt at matchmaking.

 

"Please?" Soonyoung begs, giving Wonwoo his best impression of puppy eyes. Sadly, it's working. Wonwoo feels his heart wavering, before he remembers that he has no clue how to look after a dog and would thus be accused of animal cruelty and Soonyoung will realise that Jeon Wonwoo was a despicable liar who hated dogs and couldn't be trusted. "I'll do anything!"

 

"Anything?" Wonwoo pauses, gears turning in his head. The scenario of them dating floats in his head, unbidden. Wonwoo's heart clenches.

 

"Yes!" Soonyoung declares. "I'll even provide food for her and teach you how to look after her."

 

When Soonyoung puts it that way, looking after a dog seems like a completely manageable task. It's only for a month; and Soonyoung will be there to help him. Soonyoung will be in his house, voluntarily spending time with Wonwoo. That fact wins out against whatever reservations Wonwoo may have had about having a dog stay in his house.

 

"Can I meet the dog first?" Wonwoo asks. "I don't want to get stuck with a dog that's big or scary."  

 

"Of course!" Soonyoung nods. "If the both of you aren't compatible, I won't put her with you. But I think you'll get along with her. I'll meet you after work to bring you to meet her! What time does your shift end?" Wonwoo's brain promptly shuts down, the words  _ i'll meet you after work  _ replaying endlessly in his head. This is either going to be the best plan Wonwoo has ever had (even better than his idea of heating bread using his laptop charger because he didn't want to stop his Naruto marathons) or the worst idea ever. 

 

"I'll see you after work then." Wonwoo says, proud of the way his voice doesn't crack at the thought of a pseudo-date with Soonyoung. He never thought he would say these words to him.

 

"Yep!" Soonyoung has finished the rest of the muffin and waves goodbye as he leaves. "Bye Wonwoo!"

 

Wonwoo waves back.

 

"Congrats hyung." Seungkwan cheerfully says when Soonyoung is out of earshot. "I can't believe you're going to take in a dog just to get Soonyoung-hyung to talk to you."

 

Wonwoo internally cheers. Seungkwan takes one look at his face and bursts out laughing. 

 

-

Wonwoo isn't cheering much later, when he stares at the dog Soonyoung wants him to foster. Dog is perhaps the wrong word, it is a puppy, it is a lump of fur with big sad eyes stuck to it, barely the length of Wonwoo's forearm.

 

"Here Pompom, come here!" Soonyoung crouches down and gently claps his hands together. Wonwoo notices that Soonyoung deliberately claps softly, and his voice is comfortingly low. Pompom, the dog, sniffs the air startled, and barks when it realises Soonyoung is not alone, shying away from Wonwoo and Soonyoung.

 

"Hey girl, it’s okay." Soonyoung whispers. "This is Wonwoo." Soonyoung holds Wonwoo's palm out, fingers hot against Wonwoo's wrist. Wonwoo reminds himself to breathe; it's just Soonyoung's fingers on his wrist, it's just a tiny scared puppy. In fact, the puppy seems more terrified of him than Wonwoo was of it.

 

Pompom gingerly walks towards his outstretched hand. No - Pompom limps towards his hand, dragging one of her hind legs. Wonwoo's heart aches. He may not like dogs, but that doesn't mean he wants to see them hurt or suffering. This puppy clearly had seen better days; Wonwoo reminds himself to not flinch as she sniffs his palms before licking it. 

 

“Hi.” Wonwoo says awkwardly, making sure not to startle the dog further. How do people talk to dogs? Do they talk to them like they were their babies? Or friends? The puppy (Pompom, Wonwoo reminds himself) blinks its beady eyes at him before barking at Soonyoung. Soonyoung smiles and lightly scratches the underside of Pompom’s jaw as she wags her tail.  

“Who’s the best girl? It’s you!” Soonyoung cheers quietly as Pompom soaks up the affection and attention like a dry mop.

 

“She doesn’t seem like a stray.” Wonwoo says, eyeing Pompom cautiously. “She’s too friendly to be one.”  

 

“She wasn’t.” Soonyoung replies. “Not until recently anyway.” 

 

“I think she’ll have a lot of potential adopters. She’s small and cute, and suitable for apartment dwellers.” Wonwoo continues, hopeful that Soonyoung would change his mind about needing a fosterer for Pompom. Wonwoo has nothing against her, he may be fine with her, but he doesn’t know how to care for a dog, and despite Soonyoung’s earlier promises of help, he has no guarantee that he would do a good job of looking after her.

 

And this dog deserves someone who would do a good job of looking after her. Someone who would care for her wholeheartedly and love her because she deserves to be loved, and not just because she was a means to an end. Someone who was definitely not Wonwoo. 

 

“She has a limp though. You’d be surprised how many people change their minds when they realise she can’t walk properly.” Soonyoung smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. 

 

“Humans are assholes.” Wonwoo replies. He should know. He is one. “She’s still a good dog though.” Pompom perks up at Wonwoo’s words. He idly wonders if she misses being called that. She must. Wonwoo can do at least that much. “You’re a good dog.” Wonwoo repeats. “A good dog.” 

 

Pompom barks in delight. He stretches out his hand. It hovers above her head. Wonwoo isn’t sure he’s ready to touch her, but Pompom makes that decision for him. She playfully bumps her head against palm. Wonwoo nearly squawks while Soonyoung shrieks in laughter. 

 

“Looks like you are getting along fine with her!” Soonyoung laughs, eyes crinkling. Wonwoo’s heart sings. “I’m glad.” 

 

“But that doesn’t mean I can foster her.” Wonwoo knows Pompom deserves better. He doesn’t want Soonyoung to waste his time. He has made Soonyoung smile, and Soonyoung held his wrist. This is enough. This has to be enough.  

 

“I’m scared of most dogs.” Wonwoo confesses plainly. He keeps his eyes on Pompom, not daring to look at Soonyoung in the eye. Soonyoung who trusted him, who trusted that Wonwoo was a good person and not a lying scoundrel that he actually was. Soonyoung who made time to spend with Wonwoo, believing that he was a good person. Meanwhile, Pompom rolls on the floor without a care in the world.

“Oh.” A brief look flits over Soonyoung’s face before it smooths into understanding, tinged with pity. “No wonder you always looked constipated whenever you clean the windows during our dog walks. I thought you just hated cleaning.” 

 

So Wonwoo’s pining face looks like he has shit stuck in his bowels. No wonder things never work out for him.

“I do hate cleaning.” Wonwoo says. With his luck, Soonyoung would be a neat freak who expected his house to be spick and span. He might as well be honest now that there’s nothing to lose. Maybe he can look for another barista job elsewhere, and maybe save up enough money to move to an entire country with preferably a low dog population. Antartica sounds good.  

 

“I hate cleaning too.” Soonyoung shrugs. “Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do.” Soonyoung squares his shoulders and stares straight at Wonwoo challengingly. Wonwoo’s spine tingles at the glint in Soonyoung’s eyes. “I’m going to help you get rid of your fear of dogs.” 

 

Wonwoo’s heart skips a beat.  

-

And now here they are, years later. Resting on the couch after they cleaned the pee off their carpet and have changed into blessedly pee-free clothes. Their canine child sits on the dog bed they specially bought for her and gnaws on her actual chew toy (one Wonwoo bought after scouring tons of Internet reviews and ingredient lists), all the while staring contemplatively at Wonwoo’s toes. Wonwoo wriggles them and laughs at the way Pompom stares with rapt attention at every movement, chew toy long forgotten. 

 

“I can’t believe you smeared pee on me.” Soonyoung grumbles as he rests his head on Wonwoo’s lap, feet dangling on the other side of the couch. “And you say I’m the disgusting one.”

 

“Sharing is caring.” Wonwoo says shamelessly as he relaxes into the couch, fingers gently tugging at Soonyoung’s hair. “Aren’t you glad I cleaned up her pee?” 

 

“Yes. I’m glad you love her.” Soonyoung says playfully, but his eyes are sincere and sweet as they stare right into Wonwoo’s own. “I’m glad you love me.” Whatever scathing or sarcastic response Wonwoo has planned dies in his throat. 

 

“Yeah.” Wonwoo swallows past the sudden lump in his throat. He has never been more thankful for Soonyoung, who never gives up on what he deems important. He’s so thankful that he’s considered someone important. “I’m glad I love her too. And you. Even if you don’t appreciate her pee.” He has to add. 

 

Soonyoung swats his arm.  “If you appreciated her pee more you wouldn’t have smeared it on me.”

 

“This is how I show I care.” Wonwoo sniffs primly. “Pee is supposed to be a way to mark territory. And we’re all hers anyway.” Pompom barks from her bed in agreement. That’s why she’s his best girl. 

 

“Good dog Pompom. You’re the best dog. The smartest dog,” Pompom barks again and runs towards Wonwoo’s toes, intent on gnawing his toes. Wonwoo is too used to the feeling of her teeth and tongue on his toes to bother chasing away. Better his toes than the curtains anyway, he would have said, but Soonyoung pulls him down by his shirt, swallowing his words with a kiss.  

 

How disgusting. Wonwoo wouldn’t have it any other way. 

-

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Leave a comment or kudos if liked!
> 
> ADOPT DON'T SHOP
> 
> Also Pompom is a Pomeranian puppy.


End file.
